Welcome to my fundraising page for Phoenix Bikes! My siblings and I are riding in honor of our parents whom we lost during the summer of 2018. Our father died from a form of blood cancer which had been diagnosed about 7 months prior. Tragically as family members had flown to Anchorage for our Dad’s funeral, our Mom passed from a heart attack in the driveway as were preparing to go to the funeral home for our Fathers private viewing. His funeral was postponed, and we buried them together a few days later. The trauma and shock of that day’s events has bonded us in deeper ways than we would have imagined. Earlier in the summer we were visiting while they were both alive and relatively well and decided to go for a bike ride on the beautiful coastal trail in town. That ride inspired me, reminding me of a long-forgotten ambition I had to ride in the STP (Seattle to Portland) bike ride. Being middle aged and overweight, it seemed a lofty goal at the time, but my siblings said they would fly to Seattle to ride with me. Mom was supportive, saying she would cheer us on, Dad did not say much. The STP of course, has been cancelled due to COVID-19. This opportunity to honor their memory as a virtual team is the perfect alternative and I am excited to participate. Good news, in preparation for STP I have lost most of the unwanted weight. The other great news is that this is for a wonderful cause that supports inner city youth and promotes the sport of bicycling. My brother Henry Thomas has been involved with this organization for many years and I love that we get to support him and hope that you will support me with a donation of any amount.
Phoenix Bikes Raise + Ride: Sizzling Summer Century
This year's Sizzling Summer Century ride will be a little different than normal, but that's 2020! We're changing our summer ride to make sure everyone stays safe and socially distant, but also that we re-connect this community through the joy of cycling. Your challenge this year is to come up with a ride that challenges you and to raise money to support the mission of Phoenix Bikes. You can ride the full 100 mile century on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail--our typical route--or you can make your neighborhood trails into a race course. Whether it's the most mileage in the smallest area or the longest ride in a single day, we'll be giving out amazing prizes to the individuals or teams with the most creative ride. This summer ride is also a peer-to-peer fundraiser for Phoenix Bikes, and we encourage you to reach out to your friends and family to help fundraise. We're also giving prizes to the most successful fundraisers! Last year, you raised over $27,000 total, so let's try and top that this year. We can't wait to get rolling!
The mission of Phoenix Bikes is harnessing the power of bikes to help youth build passion, purpose, and a place in the community. We are an Arlington nonprofit that uniquely combines youth educational programs with a full-service professional bike shop and retail store. Since our launch, we have had the opportunity to engage thousands of teens, with over 900 earning their own bikes so far. Local youth, ages 12 to 17, are invited to participate in bike refurbishment and retail operations as they contribute to the daily operations of the Phoenix Bikes shop located in South Arlington, VA. Through these experiences, our students are not only given the opportunity to learn technical mechanical skills and put in hard work, but also develop their problem solving abilities and gain self confidence.